Kobe Bryant sitting out last two regular season games

The text message arrived on Phil Jackson’s cellphone Sunday at 8 p.m., a few hours after the Lakers’ latest loss.

Kobe Bryant wanted to sit out the last two regular-season games.

It was somewhat surprising, seeing how Bryant had just told reporters he wanted to continue playing because “you can’t rest too much … you get rusty,” but then came the text, eventually followed by the Lakers’ official announcement Monday afternoon that Bryant won’t play another game until the playoff opener because of his broken right index finger.